Podcasts about screeners podcast

In this time of social distancing and stay-at-home orders, we decide to embrace the separation and talk about our Top 10 Isolation films. Some are uplifting, some are downright despressing, but we talk about it all here on the Geek Card Check! Special Guest: Daniel Howat from the Screeners Podcast. Subscribe: iTunes (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-geek-card-check/id1279475061) | Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/0ED7vkMhKwZeiOZd3fIHH0) Social: Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/GeekCardCheck/) | Twitter (https://twitter.com/geekcardcheck) | Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/geekcardcheck/) Special Guest: Daniel Howat.

Part 2 of our Year In Preview series profiles every other potential Oscars 2021 movie that we didn’t cover in Part 1’s Netflix discussion. With the help of Daniel Howat of Screeners & Next Best Picture, we discuss the casts & crews, release dates, plot/premises, & all the buzz. What Is This Episode?/Introducing Our Guest- Top of Show Daniel Howat of The Screeners Podcast! Socials and Info Here DANIEL HOWAT HELPS US PREVIEW 2020: His Necessary Reinvigorating Article for NBP - 4:37 Can Any Blockbuster Break Into The 2021 Oscars - 5:40 Sorkin’s “Trial Of The Chicago Seven” - 8:43 2020 - “The Year Of The Musicals” + Best Picture Remakes - 11:14 (And Recapping Moonlight’s Win Over La La Land) Tom Hanks and The Upcoming “News of the World” - 15:42 Daniel Guarantees Nominations for “The French Dispatch” - 17:12 John David Washington’s Best Actor Chances for “Tenet” - 19:25 Ridley Scott’s “The Last Duel” - 22:50 The Academy’s Genre Bias Towards Horror - 24:20 Quick Sundance Recap Incl: Minari, Ironbark, etc - 26:22 Daniel’s Most Anticipated 2020 Film + What COULD BE Parasite 2.0 - 29:15 MONTH-BY-MONTH 2020 OSCARS YEAR IN PREVIEW: THE PICTURES JANUARY/FEBRUARY/MARCH POSSIBLE CONTENDERS - 33:48 (Emma, The Invisible Man, Wendy, The Way Back, Onward, Sorry We Missed You, First Cow, A Quiet Place 2) Mulan + No Time To Die - 39:27 APRIL - 40:57 (Promising Young Woman, Trolls World Tour, Antebellum) MAY - 42:36 (Black Widow, Personal History of David Copperfield, Woman in the Window, Greyhound, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run) JUNE - 46:38 (Wonder Woman 1984, Soul, The King of Staten Island, In The Heights) JULY - 52:58 (Ghostbusters Afterlife, Tenet, The French Dispatch, Morbius) SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER - 57:15 (Last Night in SoHo, The Trial of the Chicago Seven, Venom 2, The Witches, Halloween Kills, Respect, Those Who Wish Me Dead) NOVEMBER - 1:03:52 (The Eternals, Stillwater, Godzilla vs Kong, Ray and the Last Dragon, DECEMBER - 1:06:21 (Dune, West Side Story, News of the World) POTENTIAL CONTENDERS WITH UNKNOWN RELEASE DATES: King Richard, Red White and Water, Ammonite - 1:10:19 Macbeth, Nightmare Alley, French Exit - 1:13:37 Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Mob Girl, Nomadland - 1:16:13 The Father, Four Good Days, The Humans, Palm Springs - 1:17:50 On The Rocks, True History of the Kelly Gang, Bendetta - 1:21:01 Apollo 10.5, 3000 Years of Longing, Cmon Cmon - 1:22:56 After Yang, David O Russell/PTA Untitleds - 1:24:13 Recapping The Netflix Biggies - 1:26:25 Daniel’s Work and Socials - 1:26:51 Your Homework/Our Socials - 1:28:04 What’s Next For MMO/Words of Wisdom - 1:29:13 Daniel Howat wrote a terrific article on all his Early Oscar Predictions For 2020 on Next Best Picture, and we do an annual episode previewing all these films. So clearly, this collaboration was meant to be. We pick Daniel’s brain to open the show, speculating over so many of the major films, biggest names, and loudest buzz to give you a look ahead at all of next year’s Oscar possibilities. This is our Year In Preview Part 2, and do go back & enjoy our collaboration with Andrew of The NOMcast in Part 1, where we dove into everything Netflix. Part 3 will be our 100% Accurate Predictions. Do please subscribe to Daniel Howat’s Screeners Podcast, and you can also read & listen to him on Next Best Picture. If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to rate & review all 3 of our shows on Apple Podcasts, and we thank you for your support. As always, we wanna know your thoughts. What potential Oscar contenders are you most excited to see? Chat with us online. We’re @MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. You can subscribe / rate / review / like / share / & listen to us on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, Spotify, and just about wherever you might listen. We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar, and we’re making awards season year round, without the stuffiness. Thanks for listening.

This week on the InSession Film Podcast, Daniel Howat from the Screeners Podcast joins us to discuss Laika Studios' latest film in Missing Link and our Top 3 mythical movies. We also give a few brief thoughts on that little trailer that dropped last week for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. - Review: Missing Link (3:59) - Notes / Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Trailer (34:22) - Top 3 Mythical Movies (1:04:26) Thanks for listening and be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Soundcloud or TuneIn Radio! iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/insession-film-podcast/id605634337 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5LIi40D5BTFnsRMP57O5nG Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/listen?authuser&u=0#/ps/It5foal422yoktioaclalk3ykyi Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/insession-film Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/insession-film TuneIn Radio: http://tunein.com/radio/The-InSession-Film-Podcast-p522717/ Listen Now: http://insessionfilm.com/insession-film-podcasts-listen-now/

In the first episode of a new series, Chris and Tyler decide to dust off their Geek Cards and make sure they're still valid. They're joined by Daniel (@howatdk on Twitter) from the Screeners Podcast to answer the question: Does Westworld check all the boxes to be required Geek viewing?

Kevin speaks with Screeners Podcast host and Next Best Picture writer Daniel Howat to discuss Ron Howard's space action thriller 'Apollo 13,' the likely runner-up in the 1995 Oscar race that lost to 'Braveheart.' 0:00 - 1:15 - Introduction 1:16 - 27:04 - 'Apollo 13' review  27:05 - 55:37 - Why 'Apollo 13' lost Best Picture 55:38 - 1:21:20 - Shoulda been a contender 1:21:21 - 1:25:11 - Did 'Apollo 13' deserve to win? Go to FilmTrophies.com or email at filmtrophies@gmail.com to vote for which film you think deserved to win Best Picture. Follow Kevin Jacobsen on Twitter: @Kevin_Jacobsen Follow Daniel Howat on Twitter: @howatdk Follow And the Runner-Up Is on Twitter: @OscarRunnerUp Theme/End Music is "The Virtue" by Jonathan Adamich

This week on the InSession Film Podcast, Daniel Howat from the Screeners Podcast joins us to review TOMB RAIDER and discuss our top 3 expeditions in film! Our very own Chris Martinez also drops by to give us his thoughts on the 2018 SXSW Film Festival.    - Review: Tomb Raider (6:01)   - SXSW 2018 (35:16)   - Top 3 Expeditions in Film (53:04)   Thanks for listening and be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Soundcloud or TuneIn Radio!   iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/insession-film-podcast/id605634337   Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5LIi40D5BTFnsRMP57O5nG   Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/listen?authuser&u=0#/ps/It5foal422yoktioaclalk3ykyi   Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/insession-film   Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/insession-film   TuneIn Radio: http://tunein.com/radio/The-InSession-Film-Podcast-p522717/   Listen Now: http://insessionfilm.com/insession-film-podcasts-listen-now/

We’re in a bit of a lull as far as movie releases go1, so the Screeners haven’t found anything worthy of a main event in a couple weeks. That’s not to say all their screens are dark, though. The dog days of summer are the perfect time for a “what have you been watching” catch-up segment. But wait; there’s more! The Screeners Podcast has been around for about 4 years now with only one major change, so we thought it was about time for another. No, we’re not reverting the first one by firing Daniel (yet...you’re on thin ice, though; stop seeing so many more movies than everyone else). This announcement’s a bit more on the positive side, at least for the sci-fi fans in the crowd. OK; we’ve said enough—you’ll have to listen to find out more. When you’ve done that, be sure to head over to Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/screenerscast/) to tell us what you think—and what great shows and movies we missed during our free-for-all earlier; we know there’s plenty out there. See you next time! 1 Yes, Josh, we know you think we’ve been in a lull since at least February. Subscribe: iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/screeners-podcast/id611609146) | Google Play (https://play.google.com/music/m/Iissyasykzy4aokzsgmcto5xsfe?t=Screeners_Podcast) | Pocket Casts (http://pca.st/TZQF) Web: Home (http://screenerspodcast.com/) | Download (https://aphid.fireside.fm/d/1437767933/15272701-2f5b-4fb3-81f6-b494b321b3f9/2a28cd06-93d0-4b87-a314-2f00711718c2.mp3) Social: Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/screenerscast/) | Twitter (https://twitter.com/screenerscast/) Special Guest: Tyler Howat.

...does humanity still get enslaved? What better way to celebrate American independence than by trying to milk some more money out of a 20-year-old hit movie? That’s what Fox thought, anyway—unfortunately, though, Josh isn’t much of a patriot, and Melody had other things to do, so only Chad, Chris, and Daniel saw Independence Day: Resurgence. Based on box office numbers, though, that’s a higher percentage of Screeners making it to the theater than of the general moviegoing public, so Fox should be happy. The Screeners who picked Resurgence to do well in their box office wager list...well, they’re a little less happy.Close Encounters of the First, Second, and Third KindsSurely Hollywood can do better than a movie about aliens that doesn’t even have Will Smith in it, though. If they have, the Screeners (or what’s left of them) will dig it up for their top 3 list. In keeping with the July 4 theme, this episode’s topic is “best alien invasion movies” (or, we assume, TV shows, but if anyone says Falling Skies, Josh will find out, and he will quit the podcast for real this time).If you’re not too busy stealing paranoid glances into the sky in anticipation of impending doom, join us over on Facebook to tell us about all the overlord races we forgot to welcome. Next episode, we’ll switch from aliens to ghosts. Good times!

News flash:  People liked Finding Nemo. Judging by the box office numbers for Finding Dory, a lot of people liked Finding Nemo. Either that, or people just really like animated movies about fish. We’re guessing it’s the former, though. The Screeners are no exception, whether their kids love it, or they were kids when it came out (OK, so that’s only one Screener). They all have something good to say about the little clownfish—even Josh probably does, though we doubt he’ll say it out loud. Did the sequel measure up to the original, though?Well, that’s what everyone’s here to talk about. This episode happened to fall on a relatively slow news week, so the hosts jump right into their main event review. All five of them managed to make it to the theater (along with the rest of the country, apparently), so there should be at least a little room for debate. C’mon, Chris; everyone’s counting on you to remain objective in the face of everyone else’s excitement. Don’t disappoint us!No Rules, No Rails: The Day the List Jumped the SharkOK, so there wasn’t much news, but we can still put together a top 3 list, right? Sure; why not? In the spirit of the main event’s title, the Screeners decided to make a top 3 “lost and found” list. As usual, it can be movies or TV, and as Chris is so fond of saying, there are no rules...for this one especially, it would seem. If you can make any sense at all out of Daniel’s picks here, please do let us know. We’re still working on figuring out a couple of them.And that’s it! Like we always say, do join us over on Facebook to add your top 3 picks to the list, send us topic ideas, or just tell us how amazing Chad’s sound quality was this episode. We want to hear what you have to say, and we obviously love to hear ourselves talk too, so let’s, um, talk...together.

The Screeners are down a host for this episode—Josh mentioned something about packing all his earthly belongings, but we’re honestly a bit worried that’s just a euphemism. Please do come back someday, Josh; we miss the lack of substance you bring to the show.Anyway, in honor of this episode’s main event, the remaining Screeners start out the show by talking about their top three third installments in a trilogy.. See, Apocalypse is either the third movie since the last X-Men reboot, or the third third X-Men movie (yes, that’s nine in all for those of you playing along at home...how many more can they make?). Either way, Chad promised us this would make sense, and we’re just going to take him at his word. That usually works out.Back to the BackstoriesOK, main event time. Like we said, there have been a lot of X-Men movies, but you know what there are even more of? X-Men characters. X-Men: Apocalypse alone must introduce 20 of them...we lost count somewhere after the guy with the tail. We can’t say any more than that, because once we start making jokes about how the cast has all the makings of a fantastic Blue Man Group tribute band, we’re liable to spoil something. You’ll just have to listen to find out whether Melody and Daniel loved this movie as much as you’d expect them to.And that’s one more superhero movie episode in the books! As always, join us over on Facebook to let us know what you thought and what you’d like to hear more about next time.

Another month, another Marvel movie. They’re a machine at this point—the kind of machine they keep at the US Mint. They say money doesn’t grow on trees, but they clearly haven’t seen the trees on the Marvel Studios lot.But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Before we go all Confederateless Civil War on you, we have a single Jump Cut to kick off this episode. Your Facebook feed may or may not have recently been bombarded with ads for a new twist on video streaming lately—if not, the Screeners here to fill you in. VidAngel is a service that claims to rent SD movies (those are still a thing?) for $1 and the HD version for $2, with the added bonus that you can edit them to your heart’s content to remove anything you find objectionable.Is this a good idea? Is it legal? Would anyone consider using something like this? All these questions and more will be...well, they’ll at least be mentioned in our longest Jump Cut ever.No Thor, but We’ll Always Have HawkeyeOK, main event time. They thought about waiting until it came out on VidAngel so we could edit out all its gratuitous violence and at least 3 potty words, but the Screeners just couldn’t wait to see Captain America: Civil War. So, first question: is this a Captain America movie or an Avengers movie? Does anyone really know? We sure don’t.It’s definitely a spectacle, though, and we’re sure Chris hated every minute of it. Let’s talk about why, and what Marvel can do to keep his attention the next time around. And once we’re done with that, let’s find something relatively inconsequential to argue about, just to keep things interesting. Sound like a plan? Good.More Punching, Please!Once the infighting dies down, brother stop killing brothers, and all that, the Screeners decide to go back to talking about when the good guys decide to fight the bad guys for a change. This episode’s Top 3 is about our hosts’ favorite superhero fight scenes of all time. As usual, there are no criteria that qualifies something as being a “superhero fight scene”, or even a “superhero”; those are just words anyway, right; what good are they?Maybe you’re thinking, “Wow; that Top 3 was a little too specific for me.” Well, it’s time to channel your inner Gandhi and be the change you wish to see in the world. Click over to our Facebook page and tell us what we should talk about next time. Come to think of it, maybe you should suggest something for two episodes down the road—for the next episode, the Screeners are going to play a ranking game even more specific than an Oscar ballot. They’re going to attempt to rank the year’s top 10 box office earners released before that episode. The loser has to...listen to the winner gloat until they can think of a better punishment. See you then!

The Screeners are missing their only mommy host for this episode, but that won’t stop them from doing a kid-friendly episode...right after Jump Cuts, that is.OK, so “Jump Cuts” might be a bit of a misnomer for this episode’s first act, but Chris really likes the audio bump he recorded for it, and everyone else is too lazy to come up with a replacement, so we’ll let the pretense continue for at least one more show. The four Screeners who did show up this time tend to have TV viewing habits that are...let’s say “distinct”. Since they don’t all watch the same things, they’ve decided to do a round of mini-reviews of shows that have caught their eye recently. With Josh digging up a CNBC show and Daniel implying that there’s a Hulu original that might be worth watching, this segment might just be the most eccentric thing the Screeners have done since Chad named a foreign language movie his top pick of 2015. Of course, no one else has watched Phoenix to see if he had a point, so we’re just going to keep mocking him for it.The Bare Necessities: $175 Million and a Lot of Green FabricUnsatisfied to ruminate about just the small screen, the Screeners looked around for a movie to review as a group this week and landed on Disney’s live-action remake of The Jungle Book. After all, how wrong can you go with casting Bill Murray and Christopher Walken as talking animals?The group is down one more voice for this segment, as Josh wasn’t able to make it out to the theater, but we’re pretty sure the other 3 can successfully fill the 45 seconds of content he usually adds to main events. We won’t spoil the review here, except to say that we had no idea how little Chad likes kids. Tsk, tsk, Chad.Speaking of Talking Animals…Looks like the Screeners might actually be sticking with this “top 3” thing. In honor of The Jungle Book, they’ve decided to recap their favorite movies that feature (though don’t necessarily “star”) talking animals. Josh is back to participate, but does he have enough of an inner child to even give this topic a fair chance?That’s enough cuteness for one episode. As always, find us on Facebook to join the conversation—and come back next time when we’ll be talking about Captain America: Civil War and our favorite superhero fight scenes of all time.

It’s been at least three episodes since we talked about murder, so the Screeners decided to kick this one off by pretending they like Chris as much as Daniel and watching—you guessed it—Hannibal. The hype train has been building speed for awhile now, so we’re not even sure if whatever got the show canceled can stop it. Even Josh played along and watched a couple episodes, though, so we’ll see if he can be the immovable object the world needs in times like these.OK, enough cannibalism and telepathy. To cleanse everyone’s palate before the main event, it’s time to introduce a brand-new segment: Top 3. After all, Buzzfeed built a media empire around the concept of numbered lists, so why can’t the Screeners? The world needs more favorite things, so we’re going to list ours more often, and we’re going to start with, um . . . movies and TV shows about serial killers. Funny how that worked out.Main Event: Made You Look!We’re done now; we promise. For the main event this time, the Screeners revisit a segment that’s been on the shelf for awhile:  Made You Look. For any new listeners out there (and the forgetful among us), this means that each Screener picked a movie and forced one other Screener to watch it. There’s usually at least a little sadism involved in the choices, though, so it still fits with the episode’s theme. Here’s a list of each Screeners, their victim—er, beneficiary—and the movie they picked. All the movies are available on Netflix, except Chris and Melody's picks. You can thank them for that on Facebook.Daniel -> Chris: Me and Earl and the Dying GirlChris -> Chad: The Final GirlsChad -> Josh: TangerineJosh -> Melody: In BrugesMelody -> Daniel: The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family BandOh, and speaking of Facebook, it’s time to send you over there to tell us which serial killer you’d like to see more of (shout-out if you’ve already done that part!). Feel free to suggest future topics for main events or Top 3, lest we end up talking about our top 3 movies about loneliness. You laugh, but that’s totally on the list, and you can send your hate mail to Josh.

...or at least Chad does. The rest of the Screeners are holding out for the 20th anniversary of The Wedding Singer to let go of the innocence of youth. EIther way, we’ve made it to the big five-oh. Fifty episodes in just over 3 years is still a better production pace than most non-reality TV shows (read: shows that require creativity to produce), so maybe our mothers are right to be so proud of us.The List to End All Lists...Until the Next ListHow, then, should we celebrate? Let’s make a list! Everyone loves a good anniversary list. We’re afraid the Screeners may have missed the boat topic-wise, though. Instead of “Melody’s top 5 unnecessary apologies”, “Chris’s 3 favorite explosions that don’t involve helicopters”, or “The 10 foreign films Chad claims are amazing, but that no one will ever watch to validate his enthusiasm”, they went with “Top 5 movies we’ve reviewed on the podcast”. They’re sorry. They’ll do better for episode 100. If they live that long.Best St. Patrick’s Day Movie EverNow that we’ve rehashed all the other main events, it’s time to make a new one. 10 Cloverfield Lane is Dan Trachtenberg’s feature-length debut after years of suffering on The Totally Rad Show under the crushing weight of Chad, Chris, and Melody’s zealous fandom. Has he proven worthy of their endless devotion? Also, what’s this movie about, anyway? It has the word Cloverfield in it, and there was that alien movie awhile back—is this that? JJ Abrams is involved, so it has to be that, right? But the trailer...the trailer was, like, not that. We’re confused. You’re probably confused too, and we understand. Listen, and all will be revealed—unless, of course, you don’t want it to be, in which case you probably shouldn’t listen to the spoilers section.Oh, and one more thing for the kiddos. Zootopia’s out too. Most of the Screeners with offspring (and one without) have seen it and have some feedback for Disney. Is it worth schlepping the kids to the theater? Does it live up to Disney movie standards? And just how much are we allowed to mock the DMV before something bad happens? The answers to all these questions and more, in a segment that’s totally not an afterthought to a review of a very different movie.After you’ve seen 10 Cloverfield Lane, why not head over to Facebook and question Chris’s sanity, or maybe Josh’s solipsism? The rest of the Screeners don’t know how much longer they can keep it up without some help. It’s beginning to feel like a losing battle.

The day after the Oscars marks Josh’s favorite time of the Hollywood calendar; it marks the day furthest from the next time he’ll have to sit in front of a television watching famous people celebrate each other’s fame for over three hours. Sadly (for him), the rest of the Screeners feel at least a little differently about the whole ordeal. As creators of a podcast that purported to be about all media and slowly collapsed into the black hole of Hollywood, they feel duty-bound to discuss their reactions to the show, its host, and its big winners. Josh will live.“Which Action Movies Should We Plagiarize?” “...All of Them.”There are certain vital moments in all our lives, events that we come to recognize as turning points, decisions that shape our future. The Screeners experienced such a moment 6 months ago when they invited Daniel into the sacred circle of co-hosts. They did it because they knew he loved movies, but they could never have predicted just how many movies he would love.You see, a scant 2 months before Daniel’s debut on the Screeners, a run-of-the-mill disaster movie debuted in theaters to...something less than you might call “critical acclaim”. The movie was, of course, San Andreas, and it immediately stole Daniel’s heart. He shrewdly hid this from the rest of the Screeners during the rigorous interview process, and it slid under the radar for awhile, but one day he could contain his enthusiasm no longer.The hosts’ fate was sealed. Daniel was the only Screener who’d bothered to see San Andreas, and that included Chad, who’s been known to watch movies that aren’t even made in this country. At some point, the rest of them were going to have to sit through this thing just to teach Daniel a lesson (since masochism is the path to true enlightenment and all).And what better time to engage in self-torture than the week after the Oscars? The sense of having squandered time that can never be reclaimed is familiar; despair for the world we’re leaving our children holds sway. So who cares that the movie’s 8 months old? Without further ado, we present to you our full review of San Andreas, starring Dwayne Johnson as a tall man with large muscles and Paul Giamatti as an actor who lost a bet and had to accept the next script that came his way no matter what it was.Oh, Right—And This HappenedWith all of the intellectually draining parts of the episode behind them, the Screeners decide to round out the show by returning to Flickchart to work on their list of all-time favorites. As any longtime listener of the show knows, this is a hopeless Sisyphean task, yet they persist. Join them in their suffering.OK, that’s enough torture for one day. Join the Screeners next time, when they’ll be watching 10 Cloverfield Lane, which at least Josh is destined to love. And, as always, feel free—encouraged, even—to add your two cents on Facebook. See you next time!

Marvel’s been straining the public’s tolerance for clever marketing for months now in anticipation of Deadpool. With everything from emoji billboards to non sequitur PSA’s in full costume (NSFW...maybe?), they’ve been trying to tell us that Ryan Reynolds’ character here is no Captain America. We get it; the question is, just what is he, and is he worth watching for a couple hours? As usual, the Screeners (or at least some of them) have the answers you’ve been pining for. Josh and Daniel ended up elsewhere for Valentine’s Day, but our 3 hardcore comic book fans all made it to the theater, and they’re here to tell you whether you should do the same.Head over to Facebook to let us know if you agree!

The Screeners indulged a little in the last episode, talking about only what they wanted to talk about. Now it’s time to give the Academy their due—but before we do that, we hear there was some kind of sporting event not too long ago…Are You Overpaid and Too Famous? Here’s a Trophy!As any media wonk knows, the Super Bowl is all about the commercials. The Screeners just had to take a little time up front to review the most memorable ads of the year—that is, if there were any. The last few Super Bowls haven’t seemed like what we’re used to from the biggest ad day of the year; can this one pull us out of the slump?After our brief journey to the small screen, it’s back to...well, technically the small screen again, but at least the Oscars are about the big screen. It’s time for the Screeners to pretend they care about awards shows. (OK, some of them actually do care, but we’re withholding their names out of professional courtesy. You can send hate mail after you’ve heard the episode.) We don’t have time for every category, but we might as well at least drop some predictions for the major awards and talk a little about the year’s biggest snubs and loudest controversies while we’re at it. Isn’t Hollywood fun?The Futility of AbsurdismAlright; enough TV for real. Time to go see an actual movie. Hail, Caesar! is the latest from the celebrated Coen brothers, and you might have heard by now that it hasn’t been doing so well at the box office. Before we bury the poor guy, though, let’s see if there’s any praise to be had. Surely the 15 or so household names in this film couldn’t have all signed up for a bad script. Maybe there’s something in the cinematography to grab Chris’s attention. Hey; it’s set in California—maybe there’s an earthquake in there for Daniel! Fine; at the very least, we bet there’s something everyone can argue about...Wait; hold on a second. We just now got all those salad jokes we’ve been seeing in the headlines of reviews for Hail, Caesar! “Caesar” is a kind of salad, and you don’t like salad! Man, so clever. We hope they pay you well, movie critics. You’re worth every penny.OK; if you’re still listening after that main event, congratulations! You’re more dedicated than Josh. Head over to Facebook to tell us what you think—unless you didn’t like Hail, Caesar! If that’s the case, you should probably go to Rotten Tomatoes; you’ll make lots of friends over there.

It’s that time of year again—the Golden Globes just happened (by now, even Josh knows about them), and the Oscars are just around the corner. It’s the perfect time for the Screeners to observe an annual tradition of looking back at last year in the theater, reminiscing about all the good times, and also doing what the Academies and Associations don’t have the guts for:  naming the year’s biggest wastes of film (“waste of hard drive space” just doesn’t have the same ring to it…).Of course, the biggest event on the podcast last year was the addition of a new host, so we’re going to need all the time we can get if we’re going to make it through 5 top ten lists and everything else, so no pretend lightning round this time. Sorrynotsorry.As you might have guessed, though, we’re not going to spoil the Screeners’ lists here in writing for just anyone to see. Instead, since campaign season is in full swing, we’re going to invoke another modern tradition and provide you with a simple quiz so you can determine which Screener’s choices you agree with. Those political ones take forever, though; ain’t nobody got time to fill out a 20-item questionnaire just to find out who they think should run the country. This quiz is short, simple, and gets the job done: 1 multiple-choice question, and you’re good to go:I’ve seen way too many movies this year. I might need more than 10 slots.My visual cortex is my brain’s primary source of dopamine. (Pretty pictures excite me. Deal with it.)I don’t have to be right—I don’t even want to be right. I just want everyone to get along. WHY CAN’T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?I’ve seen way too many movies and my favorite movie of the year is a foreign film because my tastes are just more refined than yours.I only value one aspect of cinema, and the market has been telling me for years that it’s the wrong thing. If I were an objectivist, I’d have revised my morals long ago.Now here’s the catch: we’re not going to give you an answer key to let you know who your match is. Either you know the Screeners well enough that you can pick them out of that lineup (in which case you probably want to listen to the episode anyway), or you don’t know them that well, so you’ll have to listen to find out. Either way...gotcha.As always, head over to Facebook to tell us who was wrong. That’s a better motivator than asking you to tell us who was right, right? See? We can learn something from Donald Trump!

 It’s a double-header of greed, murder, and intrigue on this episode of the Screeners, but before we dive into the underbelly of society, we thought we’d make a quick pit stop. The Golden Globes are pretty much the entertainment industry’s way of satirizing itself—a bunch of rich people get together in a big room to get drunk, give each other awards, and put The Martian in the musical/comedy category. Ricky Gervais hosted, though, so at least everyone was uncomfortable. Other than those two things, though, was there anything the Screeners could have found worthy of comment?No? OK; let’s just head to the main event.Some People Go to Jail; Some Don’t...No One Knows WhyFirst on the list is another movie Chris swears isn’t a comedy, presumably because it uses big words. The Big Short focuses on the most digestible, straightforward topic of the last few decades—shoddy financial products invented to disguise other shoddy financial products by chopping them up into tiny pieces, bundling them, then selling them to high rollers on Wall Street. You know, the stuff that tanked the economy about 8 years ago. They’re covering it in elementary school now, right?There might be a bit of a generational difference among the Screeners when it comes to The Big Short, but diversity’s always a good thing—unless, of course, you happen to be casting a movie about the financial industry. After everyone’s done reliving their experiences of house shopping in the age of foreclosures, it’s time to move on to material that might be even more depressing: The documentary that’s become Netflix’s most recent cultural phenomenon. Making a Murderer follows a Wisconsin man wrongfully convicted of a crime in 1985, his exoneration after 18 years in prison, and his subsequent arrest and trial for murder (the title wouldn’t have had the same punch if he’d been charged with a DUI, would it?).Like we mentioned, the series has lit up debate on both sides of the aisle, and the Screeners just can’t help throwing in their two (four? eighteen hundred?) cents on the issue. Does the 10-hour distillation of the 10-year process work as a documentary? Is it a fair treatment? Most importantly, what do our favorite armchair lawyers think of the case’s merits?Once again, the Screeners are short on topics, but long on talk. Join us next time for our yearly retrospective—we’ll go over everyone’s favorite and least favorite movies of 2015, find out about some underrated films you might have missed, and answer the most important question of all:  Did Josh actually see 10 movies last year, or is he just plagiarizing his lists from Buzzfeed? Until then, as always, join us on Facebook!

Trailer TownCan we just start calling both prequels and sequels “‘quels”? We’re tired of remembering which is what and debating whether a given movie is one or the other—it’s definitely one of the two, though, since originality is almost officially passé in Hollywood. Anyway, Jump Cuts features two ‘quels. (Catch that? We’re the change we wish to see.) First up is Alien: , and guess which Screener gets to sit out this trailer review because he hasn’t seen any of the original series. Is there story left to tell, or should Scott have left well enough alone with the franchise’s success (...then failure, then moderate success again)?Next, though, is Captain America: Civil War. Its first trailer is out now, and it’s a little different from your standard superhero punch-fest (don’t worry; there’s probably some punching in there). What are the Screeners’ first impressions of the new installment coming off their rave reviews of Winter Soldier?Can You Say “Thematically Divergent”?This episode’s main event is a rare beast indeed—a hat trick. A triple play. Three in the hole. We’re pretty sure that last one’s not really a thing. Anyway…First on the docket is Creed. It’s the latest in the Rocky series, or we suppose you could say that it just “takes place in the Rocky universe” since we’re all way, way too familiar with that phrase by now. Anyway, once you get past the fact that the main character’s name is Adonis, son of Apollo (should we be calling him Phoebus Apollo at this point?), it turns out there’s a good bit of discussion fodder to be had in the film. We’ll start things off here:  Is this a shameless money grab, a loving homage, or an actual story in its own right? Do we need another Rocky movie, or should we have left well enough alone after Rocky Balboa nearly a decade ago? What do we mean when we say “rags to riches”? We’re sure Josh can find something to complain about in here, too, but we’ll leave that for the episode.Next, we’ll revisit something we teased in the last episode: The Man in the High Castle. Visual adaptations of Philip K. Dick stories are nothing new, but this is Amazon’s first attempt at portraying his brand of sci-fi. The swastika doesn’t get a lot of airtime these days, but things might be a little different if the Nazis had won World War II. That’s the theme of the show, right—swastikas? Kidding—there’s definitely more to talk about, but is it enough to win over the Screeners? We’re a little concerned it won’t have enough earthquakes for Daniel…To round out the episode, the Screeners travel back in time a few weeks to review Pixar’s newest offering, The Good Dinosaur. It’s gotten mixed reviews, from the high praise Pixar included in the trailer all the way down to a painfully obvious slam floating around the Internet: “The Mediocre Dinosaur”. (Well done, blog critics. Must’ve taken you ages.) Pixar’s always aimed at a specific audience, though, and all of the Screeners except one have young kids now, so let’s see how this plays out.The Flickchart session last time was embarrassing enough, right? None of that this episode; we dedicated all the game time to Hitler. See you on Facebook—and back here next episode, when we’ll be talking about Creed.

We know it’s the holiday season, but the Screeners are far too dedicated to take vacation days. OK, we lied; they totally took vacation days—that’s why this episode’s main event has been out a little while by now. You'll forgive them, right? Not like you needed an extra podcast episode to listen to while you were driving 5 hours to eat turkey with people you see twice a year or anything, right? Good.All the News a Post-It Can HoldWe’ll start off with a brief news roundup, even though there’s not a ton to talk about. A listener brought us some disturbing news about a beloved cult classic on Facebook recently, but the Screeners smell something fishy about the whole deal. In the timeless words of David Letterman, is this anything?Also worth noting is Hulu’s new original miniseries, 11/22/63, and Amazon’s Philip K. Dick adaptation, The Man in the High Castle. Alternate history and time travel are apparently hot right now; will either of the sort-of-underdog streaming platforms execute well enough to stick around in the original content game?We’re on Team CaesarWhether you think it’s a vapid teen romance, a thrilling adventure tale, or are just glad it’s over, chances are you’ve at least heard of The Hunger Games. The second part of the third part of the trilogy (yeah; we’re tired of having to say that too) has been out a couple weeks, and it’s time for the Screeners to weigh in.Reviews haven’t been stellar, and people who have actually read the books (which 3 Screeners actually admit to having done) say the third one is the worst, but so far the box office has told another story. Guess it’s up to the five Screeners to solve this once and for all.A Different Kind of Game(s)Remember when the podcast used to have three segments? If you’re a new listener, you’ll just have to trust us on this one. We were young and naive, and our memories are fuzzy, but we’re pretty sure it happened once or twice. Now that there are 5 hosts, the Screeners have decided to give their old stomping ground at Flickchart another shot—after wiping out any trace of their old list, of course, because that thing was just embarrassing. So come along for the ride as Daniel learns again for the first time just how few movies Josh has actually seen.OK, that does it. You know the drill:  Last one to Facebook's a...bad fan? Yeah, let's go with that; we hear guilt's a great motivator.

The Screeners have really hit a stride with this new consistent release schedule, haven’t they? It’s like every time you turn around, there’s another episode—and another episode means yet another set of show notes. The author isn’t bitter about that, though; not in the least. Why would you think otherwise?News You Probably Can’t UseFor Jump Cuts this week, the Screeners start out with a noble goal of catching all their listeners up with the latest news. Problem is, the only news worth hearing right now seems to be Wired talking to JJ Abrams about Star Wars and how CBS has taken Star Trek hostage.Next up, since unoriginality is now a go-to topic for the Screeners (oh, the irony), they spend some time pondering sequels. For those filling out the Screeners take-home quiz, the question is: “Can a sequel actually be better than the original? Discuss.”To bring it back to current events, though, what’s new(s) in everyone’s media playlists? Josh surprises everyone by admitting to watching a reality show, then Chris takes it a step further by showing an almost uncomfortable level of enthusiasm for female-centric horrors and horror comedies. Oh, and Daniel still wants us to see Room. Like, really wants us to see it.It’s All About the SpectracleThis episode’s main event is Spectre, the newest addition to the Bond franchise. As a lifelong Bond anti-fan, Josh has decided to do the ethical thing and recuse himself from reviewing this one, but that won’t ruin everyone else’s fun. Is Daniel Craig a passable Bond? How is the franchise as a whole faring these days? It turns out there’s quite a philosophical debate to be had here, should you choose to take the Bond universe seriously.A deceptively short summary this time—trust us; there’s plenty of discussion to go around. As always, head over to Facebook to join in!

Remember last time, when we were light on non-spoilable topics to talk about in the show notes? Well, here we are again, except there’s only one Jump Cut this week. The Screeners seem to be on a campaign to make these show notes as dull as possible, so if you can’t beat ‘em… Indulge your humble guide for a moment while he reflects on one of his favorite brunch foods. Eggs Benedict, when made properly, is a delicious dish, but it demands a certain willful ignorance toward what one is about to put in one’s mouth. Too long spent pondering the fact that it resembles a pair of warmed oysters filled with liquid, and all is lost. Cut, lift, swallow. There can be no other strategy.OK, that was an extra paragraph. That should substitute for at least one or two missing Jump Cuts. English teachers of the world, cringe in horror. We’ll never speak of this again.Have You Tried Turning It Off and On Again?Anywho, there actually is a full-length episode in here somewhere. We start out with something that became a fairly popular topic on the Screeners Facebook page:  Remakes—er, “reboots”—or whatever euphemism studios are using these days instead of saying “We want more money, and we don’t want to give any of it to a writer.”We’re sure everyone can probably name at least one bad remake, but were there any good ones? Are there any movies that are actually due for a remake? Are there any movies that, if they were remade, you’d spiral into a profound depression that would take years of therapy to overcome? This is serious business, people, and not just because Chad’s about to list a bunch of movies so obscure they’ll make you question his national loyalties. Oh well; we always thought there was something off about him anyway. On to the main event!Drones vs. SoldiersAnother week, another Steve Jobs movie—and, true to the source material, each one is almost entirely incompatible with the previous version. At least this one brought a real writer and real actors to the party, but was that enough to satisfy the gamut of personal preference and emotional baggage the Screeners represent? Fun fact:  If you toss all the iPhones Chris has owned over the years in a pile on the ground, they self-organize to spell out “#firstworldproblems”.For the second movie in this episode’s main event, though, there are no cute one-liners. Beasts of No Nation is an often unpleasant look at a grim reality. Netflix’s first feature-length movie was written, directed, and shot by Cary Joji Fukunaga, is adapted from a novel about a child caught in the middle of civil war in an African country. What makes a movie about subject matter like this “worth watching”? Tune in to see how Chad, Daniel, and Josh would answer that question, since Chris and Melody...didn’t watch it.And that’ll do it for another episode of the Screeners. Head over to Facebook to let us know what you thought, what you’d like to hear more of, and if you have any strange cravings for eggs Benedict.

...so let’s talk about the past for awhile. Seriously, though, if even CNN thinks it’s news, we should probably at least mention that October 21, 2015 was Back to the Future Day—the day the DeLorean took us to all the way back in 1985. Everything that might have happened in the future has now happened in the past. Think about that for a minute.OK, minute over. We probably shouldn’t have taken our news cues from CNN anyway. Their credentials are...suspect. J-j-jump Cut time!Spielberg and the (Pseudo)science of Rewatchable CinemaThis episode’s short on topics but plenty long on discussion. To foreshadow our main event, we put out some feelers on Facebook to see what your favorite Steven Spielberg movies were. We got some good responses, but you didn’t think the Screeners were going to stay silent, did you? As it turns out, the real question isn’t, “Name a good Spielberg movie,” but rather, “How well can Daniel defend a nearly apocryphal Indiana Jones movie?” Oh, and we also talk about our least favorite Spielberg joints, so Josh should probably have something to say about that.Our second and final(?!) Jump Cut is a slight twist on the first. Instead of “greatest film ever”, what are the movies that each Screener can watch over and over again and still be entertained? Without listening to the segment, we’re going to guess Daniel’s jam is Star Wars: Episode I, Chris can’t get enough Bad Boys, and Melody could binge on Eragon. Ed. note: Surprisingly enough, those predictions aren’t spoilers. And just for sake of completeness (though not endorsement), here's the article Josh was complaining about.Berg of SpielLet’s bring it full circle. For the main event this episode, the Screeners—yes, all the Screeners—dissect Steven Spielberg’s newest film, Bridge of Spies. Sure, it’s Spielberg, but is it too Spielberg? How much Spielberg is enough Spielberg? If we had too much Spielberg, would we know it? Spielberg’s just such ripe conversational fodder. Spielberg.OK, so there’s more to it than that, but we’ll leave it up to you to determine just how much more. For example, we hear that some of the things in the movie may have actually happened. Oh, and don’t forget Tom Hanks. He’s in it too.There you have it—Oscar season is definitely upon us, and we have a couple formidable opening salvos already. Join us next time and, as always, head over to Facebook for all the content that didn’t quite make the podcast (and some that did). Thanks for listening!

It’s a nice round episode number, and all of the Screeners are back on...what are we calling this? “The air”? Sure—they’re all back on the air. It seems that the Facebook audience (that’s y’all!) was plenty interested in the last episode’s discussions, though, so Melody and Josh spend the first few minutes getting caught up on some of your favorite fight scenes. And as promised, here's the undeniable winner.The Jumpiest of CutsAfter that, it’s straight into an extended Jump Cuts section. Chad’s recent viewing of the The Walk and its box office troubles have gotten the five thinking about the history of the box office bomb and asking themselves if there are any that don’t belong on Wikipedia’s list of the biggest flops in history. A preview: Keanu Reeves doesn’t do well.Next, we hear how many movies Chad saw last week, and we get a brief tour of what everyone else has been watching recently. Josh’s answers just might surprise you.The careful reader will have noticed that the last paragraph was short. That was intentional:  The length of the paragraphs reflects the relative importance of each Jump Cut. The description of our penultimate discussion will be much longer, because its topic, Destiny: The Taken King, might be the most significant video game release in many years—or, at least, the most significant release for the Screeners’ marriages. By virtue of simple majority, the Screeners welcome their new MMOFPSRPG (that’s a thing, right?) overlords. Chris, Chad, and Josh attempt to exorcise their addiction through conversation; Melody gives a voice to all the wives, girlfriends, and other victims of the game’s terrible power; and Daniel simply listens in silence as the train wreck unfolds. If the three gamers are lucky, maybe Chad cut out the part where they mentioned just how many hours they've each been playing...or maybe sunlight is the best disinfectant.And assuming life after Destiny is even possible, the Screeners try to recover by talking about Kevin Bacon for some reason. Who are we kidding? Chris is the reason they’re talking about Kevin Bacon. Why else would they be talking about Kevin Bacon?How Do You Like Them (Space) Apples?Josh was playing Destiny instead of seeing The Martian, so all he knows about it is that the guy from Team America: World Police went to space and...can’t get back? Didn’t we just see this movie last year with the guy from the good season of True Detective? According to the other four Screeners who occasionally do go to theaters, no. And that’s as much as we’ll say about the review for now; if you want the rest, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and listen!As always, join us for the follow-up on Facebook. Some of you already have chimed in about Kevin Bacon (and yes, Chris’s head grew three sizes that day), but we can’t wait to see the Destiny support group that will certainly spring up after our on-air catharsis. See you next time!

Sadly, Melody’s not around for this episode, but the four guys have promised to try to argue enough to fill her role as the most belligerent Screener. We’ll have one fewer segment than normal for this episode, but there’s plenty of content to make up for it.Past Its Prime (Time)First off, late night TV has a new face in its roster. There have been profiles about Colbert and analysis of the dog-eat-dog comedy world he’s entering, but the Screeners (at least, the ones who still have ‘cords’, since you know how hard it is to watch network TV online...) have politely waited until his show started to pass judgement. It’s been a week, though, so gloves off. Has he changed anything for the better, or is it more of the same?And since that was a reasonably interesting and timely discussion, we decided to let Chris ask a question. We’re not quite sure what happened next, but we remember it was something about physical media and that Josh had to make something up because he’s maybe watched a grand total of one DVD commentary in his life. Maybe Daniel can save us here...‘Surprisingly Not Terrible’, or ‘Not Terribly Surprising’?This episode’s another famous Screeners double-header. First up, Alex Gibney’s The Man in the Machine, a documentary focused on Steve Jobs that simultaneously hit theaters and just about every on-demand service you can think of. Fresh off his mission against Scientology (which you might remember from a previous Screeners episode), Gibney seems to still be in skeptic mode. Tune in to find out if Chris is able to uphold the vow of fealty he’s sworn to Apple after Gibney’s assault.To round out the show, we guess we’ll talk about the new M. Night Shyamalan movie—y’know, if we have to. Turns out he’s made a couple movies between The Village and this one too; that in itself is news to Josh. There’s more to say, of course; we just can’t say it here since, unlike with The Man in the Machine, we have a spoilers section to think about. Let’s just say that...not everyone agreed about The Visit. Is that unspoilery enough?That does it for the first all-male revue review here at the Screeners—join us over on Facebook to keep the conversation going!

Turns out that Josh made it back safely from wherever he was (against Chad's wishes), so the Screeners have returned with a full complement of hosts, ready to take on the (media-related) issues of the day. After a summer full of blockbusters that at least 2 or 3 of our panel enjoyed, we're in a bit of a summer lull as far as movie releases go, so we're going to do things a little differently this time. Stick with us, though; we're sure *someone* will make it worth your while.This One Weird Trick Will Make People Comment on Your Facebook PageTo start things off easy, the Screeners recap what they've been watching recently, new or not. Pop quiz: What's Chris going to talk about? We'll give you a hint:  It rhymes with "cannibal". Oh, and it has one in it. We think he's seen every episode of that show as many times as a kid raised by TV in the 90's saw every episode of Saved by the Bell. Josh wants to discuss True Detective, but he's the only one who's seen the second season so far. He wanted us to be sure to share that here and stress that he was both proud of and annoyed by this fact.Next, if you can't get rid of Buzzfeed, embrace it:  The Screeners have found their first listicle to deconstruct as if its opinions were somehow representative of the culture at large. "The 10 Worst Best Pictures of The Last 30 Years" garnered a good bit of discussion on Facebook (at least for the Screeners page), and this can only end in argument—so, really, what are we waiting for? We're pretty sure Chad saw all of these in the theater (Get it? Because he's old!), and we're sure he'll have some good input. Daniel, as the youngest member of the panel...has probably still seen more of them than Josh has, so he should be OK too.Abstinence or Death!For the main event, the Screeners decided to skip a current theatrical release (dog days of summer and all) and picked a movie with some cult acclaim that's available through most streaming channels. More than just cult acclaim, really—It Follows currently has a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes.For those unfamiliar with the etymology, the title of It Follows is a clever play on the Latin phrase non sequitur, or "it does not follow". It's a deeply philosophical piece that, through its exploration of love and loss, manages to inspire its viewers to explore their own decisions while simultaneously drawing us deep into the story of the main character, who...just kidding; it's a horror movie. You either like them, or you don't—or you spend 10 minutes defending the genre as a whole, making excuses for lazy storytellers by saying they're just paying homage to all the lazy storytellers before them, and our collective intellect dies just a little more on the inside. Either way, a few people die along the way, and the rest learn nothing. The end. Spoiler alert!Well, that was fun. See you next time, but until then, join the conversation over on Facebook; we'd love to hear about your favorite listicles, least favorite Oscar winners, or why (Chris/Melody/Chad/Josh/Daniel) should go jump in a lake. It's hot outside; they might actually do it.

Hey, what do you know? We told you that we are going to be more regular … and did we deliver, or did we deliver? Two episodes released in less than a month – we are on a roll!We are missing our favorite host this episode – Josh is away travelling the country, probably visiting all his favorite movie theaters without us. We miss you Josh! But Daniel is back with us for another episode and he manages to throw us a curveball or two.SUMMER FAVORITES AND FAILURESWe have a fun time this episode trying to determine our best and worst of the summer, along with our biggest surprise. Good thing Josh is away this episode because he would never have let us get away with our pick for best film! Ha! That’s what you get for taking a week off, Josh!SECRETS AND SPIES: For your EntertainmentAnother double header this week! Mostly because Melody demanded to review The Gift even though it’s been out for a few weeks. And we couldn’t pass up The Man From U.N.C.L.E, because we just haven’t had enough spy movies lately!We did not manage to come to a unified perspective about The Gift, despite it’s critical acclaim. Which screener is the party pooper this time? You’ll have to listen to find out.Next up – more spies. Melody appears to have enjoyed The Man From U.N.C.L.E. way more than anyone expected… for reasons that have little to do with plot or characters or cinematography. Though perhaps it was to do with beautiful things being on the screen…In any case, listen to find out what we think of the latest Guy Ritchie release.And that’s it for this episode of the Screeners. Head on over to Facebook and let us know what you think! We’ll be back soon!

Welcome back to another irregularly scheduled episode of the Screeners Podcast! It’s been awhile, but we’ll be better from now on, we promise! C’mon, you can trust us...when have we ever let you down? OK, so there was that one time, but you know we didn’t mean it—wait, no, don’t go; we’re serious this time!Jokes aside, though, this episode marks a new chapter for the Screeners:  We’re adding a new cast member! Introducing new co-hosts makes it easier for at least four Screeners to be available to record a new episode, so everyone wins. Look for us to be adding about 50 more in the coming months; that should keep us nice and regular. Everyone say hi to Daniel!Nothing New Under the SunFor such a long time away, the Screeners have realized they don’t have a lot to talk about. They must’ve been too busy preparing for tonight’s double-header review. The best they can come up with is a couple trailers from Comic-Con: Batman vs. Superman and Suicide Squad. If you haven’t seen them yet, take a couple minutes and head over to YouTube before listening to us blather on about them.Tiny and the ImpossiblesAs promised, this episode’s main event is a double feature—and for what may be the first time in Screeners history, at least 4 Screeners have seen both movies! It only took adding a fifth Screener to make that happen; if only we’d known it was that easy before...live and learn, we guess.Anyway, Marvel’s Ant-Man is first on the schedule. Paul Rudd has conquered both the romantic comedy and the bromantic comedy, which uniquely qualifies him to put on a suit that makes him really small and move really fast. At least, we’re pretty sure that was his agent’s pitch to the studio. Do his dry wit and impish charm make up for the fact that Ant-Man has no reason to exist, let alone add to the already cluttered pantheon of superhero movies? Well, you tuned in to hear us answer that, so we’ll...try, at least.Next up are the almost superhuman members of the IMF coming back for another installment of America’s answer to the James Bond franchise, Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation. Tom Cruise has been doing crazy stunts for nearly 20 years, and he doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. Must be all the auditing. Anyway, is the series aging well? Keep listening for the definitive answer—the Screeners’ answer.And that’s it for another action-packed episode of the Screeners. Head on over to Facebook and let us know what you think of our casting choices and the idea that we might actually produce a regular show. Talk [at] you next time!You didn’t seriously think we were going to be able to resist that joke, did you?

Playing Catch-upSo, yeah, it’s been awhile. Again. The Screeners had the best of intentions, they promise. Somewhere in the past month or so there were at least two episodes that were planned and fell through the cracks. Since Josh actually went to the theater for said episodes (and he really wants you to know that he did his job in all of this), the four have given up on the lightning round this week and instead have opted for a grab bag of “whatcha been watchin’?”.Chris starts the segment off with a review of the most recent season of Game of Thrones...and ends up somewhere else entirely, but we won’t begrudge him his burning passion for network TV. Or maybe we just fed him the GoT topic so we could post this. Next up is Chad, who admits he’s late to the party for once, but loves Silicon Valley all the same. The show’s been a big hit with a majority of the Screeners, actually, and there’s definitely some fun to be had guessing which of the show’s characters may have been modeled after Josh.Since Josh gets a turn, you know he’s going to insist on talking about one of the movies he actually saw this year. Ex Machina’s part of what seems to be a recent thematic trend in sci-fi; does it have anything to set it apart from, say, Transcendence as an AI movie?In what must have been an attempt to ramp up the energy level for the main event, Melody rounds out the segment by covering the Screeners’ latest failure for an episode plan: Mad Max: Fury Road. Some might say we saved the best for last. One person, amidst a sea of positive reviews, might dare to say otherwise. We’re tired of telling you to guess who that person might be and implying that you might be surprised. You know, and you won’t be.Finally, a Sequel to Encino Man!We just can’t shake the mental image of Pauly Shore riding a velociraptor that we’d hoped against hope would be the climax of Jurassic World. Alas, we’ll have to settle for Chris Pratt on a motorcycle. It’s fine, really. Totally fine.No spoilers for the latest installment of the Godzilla franchise here; you’ll have to listen to hear how much Chris loved it and how deep his forgiving spirit runs.This episode may not look like much in outline form, but trust us; there’s enough material in there to either get you thinking or alienate you forever; take your pick when you’re done with the episode, and head over to Facebook to tell us whether you’ll be coming back for more.

The New Era ContinuesChris did such a bang-up job with Jump Cuts last time that we figured we’d just make him the semi-permanent lightning round czar. It’s not the title he wanted, but as we kept trying to tell him, there can be only one Highlander.Anyway, the Screeners were terrified to learn of a change in direction for the next Star Trek movie...or at least, the two Screeners who care were. The other half of them were mildly bemused, and we all know there’s nothing more entertaining in a Jump Cut than mild bemusement.Next up, the Screeners delve into a bit of personal preference with a discussion of what they’d like to see more of in the movies. Josh is left temporarily speechless when he’s told that asking for “more less” doesn’t make sense.And because one human interest piece just isn’t enough for one episode, the four then spend some time talking about a villain (from the medium of their choice) whom they find memorable or especially effective. Turns out that Chris’s secret fear is mixing media and exercise. Wii Sports must haunt his dreams.And then there was some kind of news roundup. We don’t know what it was about; we dozed off after Chad picked a villain from every medium.Clearly GoneDespite Melody’s best efforts at discretion, the Screeners watched and have sat down to discuss Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, the new Alex Gibney documentary distributed by HBO.As we all know, Scientology is a famously litigious organization, so we’ll keep commentary and spoilers light and leave the bulk of the allegations about what Scientology “is” up to Gibney. We just think it’s great that the conversation has been started and that HBO’s willing to air it.The Little Game that Couldn’tSo here’s how this episode’s Cutting Room Floor went down: Josh likes an NPR podcast called “Ask Me Another”. One day, Josh heard them play a movie-related game on the podcast and thought, “Why didn’t I think of that?” He then thought, “Hey, they borrow game formats from Jeopardy; why can’t I borrow one from them? I could write puns like that!”Then he wrote some of those puns, and he made the other three Screeners listen to them and try to guess what he was talking about. It was an abject failure, and everyone hates him, but we’re airing it because it’s the only third segment we have. Deal with it.Whew, OK; it’s over. That last segment made the show seem even longer than normal, right? Yeah, we know. Head over to Facebook to leave your hate mail.

The First Real Lightning Round Ever?The Screeners put Chris in charge of Jump Cuts this week, and for once they're able to keep the discussion brief. Not that we’re saying anything about the level of thought required to answer these particular questions or anything; Josh just happens to have a very succinct opinion about the Apple Watch.Oh yeah, and if you ever wanted to relive precious childhood memories of watching Airwolf, you’ll definitely want to tune in for this segment. That’s right—Airwolf. Only on the Screeners Podcast.Time is a Flat Circle, and Other Overbearing Fairy TalesFor the main event this time, the Screeners have a different kind of double header. First up, they’ve revived an old favorite segment, cleverly rebranding it to something more playful yet in no way more suggestive: “Convince Me to Watch” is now “Made You Look”.Each host has chosen a viewing assignment for one of the others, and they do their best to keep their picks outside the other’s normal wheelhouse. Join the fun as Chris takes a comedic look at institutional racism, Chad is forced to watch a movie that may have been shot on a cell phone, Josh contemplates the nature of time travel, and Melody tries not to fall asleep (both during her movie and while recording the podcast).Finally, the four try to salvage what remains of their cultural relevance by discussing HBO’s latest conversation piece, The Jinx. We won’t spoil the ending here; the media has done a good enough job of that already. Let’s just say that the format of the (series? documentary?) may be just as interesting as its content.Aaand cut. It may not look like much from the summary here, but there was plenty to talk about in this episode; as always, join us over on Facebook with your feedback, fanfic, and furor.

Art Is Its Own Reward...Unless You Didn't Get NominatedHe sang, he danced, he forced us to watch him in his underwear. Neil Patrick Harris hosted the Oscars this year, and besides his, um, inimitable hosting, the show boasted some unique musical performances, some inexcusable snubs, and 3 and a half hours of self-congratulatory...we mean, we love the Oscars. So very much. That's all we're contractually obligated to say, right? Good. Let's get on with our reviews.The Spy Who Imprinted on MeTonight the Screeners have a double feature in store, and in a surprise turn of events, Josh actually saw one of them! Please, hold your applause. It only makes him stronger.First up, Kingsman: The Secret Service. Part espionage homage, part frat boy comedy, the Screeners have quite a bit to say about this Matthew Vaughn/Colin Firth joint. There's so much fun to be had here that they don't even need a spoiler section to pad the review time—er, dissect the narrative arc and contemplate the directorial choices. Yeah, that's what they normally do.To round out the episode, Josh rejoins the group for a chat about Chappie, the latest Neil Blomkamp film about the robot who would be a boy. You can, um, check out this one's Rotten Tomatoes score for yourself if you're into that sort of thing. Are the critics right, though, or has Blomkamp returned to form after a little detour into whatever terrible writer's block gave birth to Elysium? See if you agree with the Screeners' theories about why bad movies happen to good people.And there you have it—our first movie review of 2015. It only took us 3 months (and a couple in 2014, but who's counting?), but we're back in the saddle now, so look for more episodes, more new segments, and more opportunitites to interact with the show this year. As always, check us out over on Facebook to give us feedback on the episode and to see what's caught our eye in the news recently. 'Til next time!

The Screeners are back with a double-header of unique movies, one a blockbuster of sorts and one...not so much. Before that, though, we have a bit of nostalgia and nerdery to cover in Jump Cuts.Comic books and consolesFirst up, superhero movies. Yes, again. In fact, it seems like we’ll be talking about superhero movies almost constantly for the foreseeable future, since the Marvel and DC universes are collectively pumping out at least 29 of them over the next 6 years. Why stop one short of 30, you ask? We think they’re waiting until Christmas to announce a Valentine’s Day release of The Punisher vs. Cupid. What can we say? They’re running out of characters.Next, though, we have a topic that’s pretty much the opposite of overplayed. Johnny Rockets, the 50’s-themed restaurant chain, is apparently trying to bring back the drive-in theater. The last time we saw one of these was in Into the Furnace, and it didn’t look like a fun place to be. Maybe some drive-through burgers would help that, though. So whaddya say? Would you watch a movie sitting inside or near your car to save a few bucks?Finally, a conversation all the Screeners can get behind. Now that every last one of them is a parent, they’ve been spending time pondering the important things in life—things like when children should be babysat by the TV and when it’s more appropriate to give them an iPad, how young is too young for the Saw movies, and what video games to introduce to their toddlers first. Among the four of them, there are fond childhood memories from the whole gamut—Atari 7200, Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, and even N64. Which controller will the next generation of Screeners wield first? (Hint: It won’t be the Atari joysticks; those blasted things never worked for more than 5 minutes at a time.)Two Totally Comparable MoviesTo round off our two-segment episode, a double-header of thrillers—or at least, um, thrilling movies? Something like that.First off, Nightcrawler. Jake Gyllenhaal plays a man with a goal near and dear to the Screeners’ hearts—getting the perfect shot. Does the movie itself succeed in the same way as its main character? This one seems to have drawn some interesting dividing lines between our hosts.From the streets to the stars; the Screeners take on Interstellar in the second half of the main event. Well, three of them do, at least... If you’ve already heard what Neil deGrasse Tyson had to say about the space flick, you might be hankering for a more, er, intellectual take on the film. Well, wait no longer, folks; Michael Bay’s biggest fan is about to drop some knowledge.That’ll do it for this episode. We had plenty of open questions this time around, so head on over to our Facebook page and let us know what you think about family outings at the drive-in, the games you can’t wait to play with your kids, and how wrong Chad was about Nightcrawler. See you next time!

The Screeners are back, this time with heavier hearts than normal, as we have to recap  the life and death of yet another beloved celebrity. Robin Williams was a man with a bullet train for a mind and a mouth to match. Disarming, funny, and by all accounts as wonderful a human being as he was an actor—you’ll be missed, Genie.Sadness, and the Internet Detectives Who Cause ItThe hosts spend the first Jump Cut reliving their favorite memories from Robin’s prolific career—and no, they won’t be paying any attention to the buzzer.We should take this opportunity to also bid farewell to Lauren Bacall. She was a generation or so before (most of) the Screeners, so we don’t have quite the same attachment to her as our parents or grandparents might, but she’s definitely earned a mention. By the way, if you ever get the chance, you should ask Chad, “You do know how to whistle, don’t you?”After the nostalgia, it’s back to the controversy machine that is cable television—or, in this case, premium television. Nic Pizzolatto, the writer (and college professor) behind HBO’s True Detective, has been accused of plagiarizing his most memorable character. Is there some truth to the claims, or is the Internet just blowing smoke?Moving back to the big screen, we’re in the middle of blockbuster season, but the Screeners only have so many main events to talk about new releases. The four spend a little time on micro-reviews of this year’s also-rans...except for Josh. We’re never sure what he’s going to add to a conversation about movies one sees in a theater.Our last Jump Cut for this episode moves away from passive entertainment entirely and into the world of mobile apps. Facebook’s causing yet another privacy ruckus with their new Messenger app. It shouldn’t take us a full 4 minutes to explain how these sorts of things work and why people should either stop whining or stop using Facebook, but we’ll give it a shot.Turtles and...What Is that Thing in Guardians, Anyway? A Fox?Josh is once again absent for the main event since he anticipates his next trip to the theater to be some time after we put an astronaut on Mars, but Melody, Chris, and Chad are more than capable of doing Michael Bay’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles justice. In fact, a room of chimps with microphones (instead of typewriters...get it?) could probably do that movie justice, but have you ever tried to rent chimps? It’s not easy.But wait! There’s more! If you listen for the next 10 minutes (or so…), you’ll also hear a review of Guardians of the Galaxy at no extra charge! Don’t say we never did anything nice for you.Random Chance Reigns SupremeTo round out the episode, play along with a rousing game of...The Tomatoes are Wrong? Rotten Guessers? Whatever we’re calling it, Josh is playing this time. In honor of Robin Williams, the Screeners (minus Chad, who gets to host since he’s currently the rottenest of all the tomatoes) will be trying their hand at predicting the critics’ ratings of some of the last 30 years’ best-known comedies. Play along at home, and see if you’re better at guessing random numbers than we are!That’ll do it for this episode; make sure to join us next time, when...you know what? We haven’t decided our next set of topics yet. How about you head on over to Facebook and let us know what you want us to talk about. But, um, don’t use the Messenger app, because it’s evil or something. We heard that if you install it, Donald Trump will buy your local water tower and put his name in 50-foot gold letters on the side.

Important news first: Josh is back (for this episode, at least)! He’s taken a break from his new life of juggling childcare, work, and leaning in (dudes are allowed to do that too, right?) to talk about some of the most entertaining news in entertainment right now.Idiocracies, Theocracies, and DictatorshipsFirst off in jump cuts, those wascally wegiswators are at it again, trying to classify anything on the internet that takes up more bandwidth than a Geocities site as a potential terrorist threat. You may have heard about net neutrality from John Oliver, and since it’s kind of a tech thing, normally Josh would only be covering this on the podcast he records inside his head. As you may have figured out, though, this could potentially affect Netflix, so the Screeners are all over it. This should be fun…Next up, we’ve got another Biblical movie coming our way in December. Ridley Scott is taking on Exodus, subtitling it “Gods and Kings”. It looks epic, sure, but will it work? We’re sure Melody will love it, at least.And now, for something completely different:  Chad’s already sung the (somewhat backhanded) praises of Seth Rogen and James Franco’s The Interview, but North Korea had to go and whine to the UN that the movie was actually an act of war, so we can’t help but talk about it again.Oh, and because Josh heard Rogen and Franco’s names and really wanted to post this link somewhere again:  Watch this. You can thank us later. It was apparently shot on the set of The Interview, so there’s the tie-in, though we honestly don’t care if there’s a tie-in or not.Speaking of Korea, there’s a South Korean movie opening around the country on demand while its theatrical release is still expanding. Snowpiercer is a unique sci-fi movie with a distribution model that’s gaining steam; have any of the Screeners joined the on demand bandwagon?Well, At Least We’re Not Stuck in One GenreThis episode’s main event is a double feature, though the films could hardly be more different. We have a documentary about one of the most celebrated film critics in the history of film critics, and we have...a Planet of the Apes movie. Which is better? That’s like asking whether Beethoven’s music is better than Bob Dylan’s, whether Dickens wrote better than Hemingway...OK; we can’t keep that up. Just go ahead and listen - but before you do, guess which movie Josh hasn’t seen.It’s That Time of Year Again...The Emmys are upon us once more, and we think it’s in the podcast’s charter somewhere that we have to talk about awards shows, because what’s more fun than watching rich people in fancy clothes pat each other on the back, right?Anyway, the Screeners don’t have time to talk about all the awards, but for this installment of the Cutting Room Floor, they’ve decided to take a look at the most traditionally “important” awards and predict two things about each:  which nominee will win, and which one should win. Come August 25, we’ll tally up the scores and give the winning Screener a golden...alright; we’ll probably just come up with some reason to mock them.That about does it for this episode; join us next time for more Michael Bay bashing -- err, conversation about media! Don’t forget to join the conversation on Facebook!

Joanna (https://twitter.com/jowrotethis) and Dave (http://www.davechen.net/) discuss the third episode of season 4 of Game of Thrones, “Breaker of Chains.” Thanks to our sponsor for this week, Screeners Podcast. (http://screenerspodcast.com/) Be sure to read Alex Graves’ comments on this episode (http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/review-game-of-thrones-breaker-of-chains-uncle-deadly) , as well George R. R. Martin’s remarks. (http://defamer.gawker.com/george-r-r-martin-distances-himself-from-game-of-thron-1565857941/+laceydonohue) E-mail us and let us know your thoughts on the season at acastofkings@gmail.com. You can find every episode of the show at gameofthronespodcast.com (http://www.gameofthronespodcast.com/) . If you like the show, feel free to leave us a review on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/cast-kings-game-thrones-podcast/id515836681) and like us on Facebook (https://facebook.com/acastofkings) .  Download (https://traffic.libsyn.com/slashfilmcast/CastofKingsS4E03.mp3) here. 

Another Oscars ceremony has lumbered by, and you know what that means—the Screeners have been at their microphones for a whole year! Cue the confetti and cocaine...what? No cocaine? What kind of party is this, anyway? We’ll never get the stock brokers to show up now!Let’s see—1 year, 18 episodes...that means we’re doing at least twice as much of this as Downton Abbey, right? And practice makes perfect, so take that, England.From Fresh Wounds to Ancient HistoryWe start off this episode’s Jump Cuts by taking a little more time on something we only mentioned in passing last episode:  Our memories of Philip Seymour Hoffman. Each Screener recaps their favorite Hoffman roles, and the diversity of genre and tone in the movies that have stuck in everyone’s hearts is a testament to Hoffman’s range and screen presence.Next up, an opinion piece from the LA Times dares to go against the grain of popular culture and call out House of Cards as everything that’s wrong with Netflix culture. Apparently the show has no redeeming qualities, and the only reason anyone likes it is because they’ve binge-watched it and are practically comatose by the end of the season. This should be a fun discussion.Hey, did you hear they remade RoboCop? Yeah; it’s out in theaters and everything. Some of the Screeners saw it, and some didn’t, but it might surprise you to learn which Screeners were in each camp (spoiler alert: no, it won’t). Turns out there might be a conversation to be had, though, so it’s probably worth the 180-ish seconds of your time to listen to this one.Finally, if we haven’t already courted enough controversy this episode, let’s talk about the Bible a bit. Specifically, let’s talk about Darren Aronofsky’s rendition of Noah. Turns out the studio’s recut version tested horribly, so in a rare reversal, Paramount gave final cut control back to Aronofsky. Since the movie’s a little more...artistic this way, though, they’ve decided to aim for fundamentalist appeasement by adding a disclaimer to their marketing materials. Good idea, or bad idea?Everything is Awesome! Except That One Thing...Just Kidding; It was Awesome Too!After years of teasing us—umm, we mean our younger relatives and neighbors’ children—with video games starring animated Lego figurines that did nothing more than grunt in excitement and growl in frustration, the powers that be have finally deigned to give us a full-length Lego movie, complete with voice acting and everything.Can the Screeners really be won over by a PG-rated animated movie whose only claims to fame are obsessive devotion to the real-life mobility limitations of Lego figurines, great voice acting, and solid humor? Let’s find out.Oh Yeah...This Also HappenedYou thought we’d forgotten about the Oscars, didn’t you? Well, we tried, but when something takes place over as significant a portion of your lifetime as Academy Awards ceremonies do, it’s difficult to forget, try though you may.Anyway, what happened again? Ah, yes; some people won awards; other people couldn’t read teleprompters, and the ceremony ran so long that the host ordered pizza for the audience.The Screeners, however, are contractually obligated to have opinions about the Oscars, though, so here we go. We really have to renegotiate our deals next year…And that does it for this episode. If you want to say Happy Birthday or tell us how old we’re looking these days, drop us a comment here or over on Facebook; see you next time!

With Thanksgiving upon us, you might expect the Screeners to take a couple leisurely weeks off, much like your favorite late-night shows, but they’re having none of it. Hollywood’s releasing blockbusters at the end of November, so they’re here to deconstruct them...after Jump Cuts, of course.How Do You Solve a Problem Like...Christmas?The holidays have arrived, so we might as well enjoy them in the lightning round. Chris starts us off by soliciting the Screeners’ favorite holiday movies. They manage to come up with almost entirely different lists, and Josh has even seen a couple of the movies on them. Christmas miracles do exist!And speaking of classic holiday joy, NBC is bringing back the Christmas musical. Except instead of finding the next Bing Crosby, they’ve cast Carrie Underwood to star in a revival of the stage version of The Sound of Music. We’re going to go ahead and assume that everyone’s first reaction is a bewildered, “Wait...what?” But could it work?From red and green all the way to noir:  Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are slated to work together on one of DC’s upcoming film properties. Unfortunately, they’re only signed up as producers, and the superhero star for this one is Sleeper. “Who?”Yeah, that’s what we said.Finally, a moment of silence for television. That’s right. Cable companies are seeing their subscriber rolls decline, and people are even dropping broadband plans in some areas. The graphs are undeniable, but what does this actually mean for the industry? Who better to make semi-informed prognostications than the Screeners?Consider the Fire CaughtThe Hunger Games: Catching Fire is officially the highest-grossing November movie of all time. In a season usually dedicated to a slate of somewhat artsy movies, Hollywood has gambled on a teen-targeted blockbuster, and it’s paid off so far, at least in ticket sales.What does this say for the fall movie season, though...and, more importantly, what can the Screeners find to argue about in the story of Katniss’ sacrificial love and courage? We’re betting there’s something…The Screeners Cross-promotion ExtravaganzaFor this episode’s Cutting Room Floor, the Screeners welcome their first-ever celebrity guest. Author RG Triplett joins the fray to talk about his new project, the Epic of Haven trilogy. The first book, The Great Darkening, is slated for release next March. He’s self-publishing the whole series with the help of some enterprising friends (including maybe a Screener or two) and hoping to gain some traction with a Kickstarter campaign, so there’s plenty of conversation material. Oh yeah, and we should probably ask him about the story itself while we have him around. It’s a busy episode, but that about wraps things up. See you next time on the Screeners Podcast!

This time on the Screeners, we reunite the powerhouse filmmaking team that brought us Good Will Hunting! ...OK, so one of our Jump Cuts is about Ben Affleck, and Matt Damon’s in the Main Event movie. Like you’ve never exaggerated.Movies, and Books that Approximate Them (01:48)So Ben Affleck is Batman now, at least for one movie, which of course drove the Internet into a frothing frenzy of insanity. Does this really matter, though? Really? We can probably count on one of the Screeners to not care, but what about the movie fans in the group?Next, you’ve heard of movie adaptations of books, but how about an autobiography based on a fictional movie character that may or may not have been loosely based on a real person? If you’re confused, good; that means you were actually reading that last sentence. But it seems like this is really happening:  Ron Burgundy’s autobiography is coming out in November. Will you read it? Will anyone?After those two heated, profound discussions, the Screeners have to take a step back and talk about movie trailers for awhile. We’ll find out if there are any movies that interest the four solely on the merits of a heavily edited 2-minute montage.Well, that was a nice break. Back to the grind:  It’s been announced that the new Star Wars trilogy (directed by our good friend JJ Abrams) will be shot on film instead of being what some might call a more modern digital production. There’s a chance that at least one Screener will care about this; let’s find out.Symbolism, and Movies that Attempt It(Spoiler-free at 21:54; Spoilers at 34:02)Elysium, Neil Blomkamp’s sophomore release, was released a few weeks ago, but the Screeners are just now getting around to talking about it, so...deal with it, we guess?Anyway, it’s a sci-fi look at inequality in a dystopian future (well, dystopian for most of the population), and we hear there’s supposed to be some allegory in there somewhere. The trailer looked good, Matt Damon and Jodie Foster are in it, and District 9 was almost universally well-regarded. Has Blomkamp kept his streak of one alive, though? The Screeners have some strong opinions about that one.Movies, Again, and Other Things Josh Hasn’t Experienced (43:11)Finally, it’s back to Flickchart for the Cutting Room Floor. The questions for this installment:  Has Josh seen any of the movies Flickchart wants to know about, and can the Screeners’ collective top movie list possibly get any more embarrassing? That about does it for this episode. Let us know what you think of Affleck and Damon’s latest efforts in the comments or over on Facebook, and we’ll see you next time!

We’ve got a lot to talk about this time, and for once the episode has a loose sort of chronology to it. Jump Cuts touches a bit on some pre-production issues, our Main Event review of The Wolverine looks at the final product, and the Cutting Room Floor anticipates the post-release judgement of an award show. Enough talk; let’s dive right into the lightning round.Would This Be the “All-Is-Lost-Moment” or the “Dark Night of the Soul”?We start out Jump Cuts with a quick tour of the on-demand libraries boasted by various cable companies. At least, that’s what the Screeners who still have cable talk about...Even if there are still a few good ones out there, though, darkness has been looming past the edge of Hollywood’s silver lining for a few years now. Movie plots seem to be converging more and more, due in large part to the influence of a suspiciously specific book and the encroachment of machines into the business of art. The Screeners can’t resist a bit of prognostication:  Will all the sameness flatline Hollywood, or is there always hope for the magic of the big screen?Amidst the gloom and doom, though, the Screeners do still enjoy watching movies, and some of them seem to be real sticklers for the artistic vision of the filmmaker. That’s why recent reports of Netflix tampering with aspect ratios are so troubling to at least half of our beloved hosts...but is it really that big a deal? (Yes, yes it is.) Finally, from streaming services to the devices that deliver us their bounty. There are approximately infinity plus seventeen Netflix-enabled plastic doohickeys on the market, but Google has kindly offered us another. This one does more, though:  It does the Internets, all of them. Right on your telemawhatsit! Do we want one? Perhaps more than one? We might, and then we might not. We are fickle; we won't deny it.“Listen, Bub—It’s a Comic Book movie”Darren Aronofsky left the set of The Wolverine long ago, but the Screeners went ahead and saw it anyway. Logan is still Logan, but this movie isn’t the last one, or any of the other X-Men movies. Is this a good thing? Is there a plot hiding amongst the ninjas or written in Yakuza tattoos, or does adamantium cause heavy metal poisoning in writers? We’ll leave that to you to decide—after you properly absorb the Screeners’ musings on the subject, of course.We Qualify As a Variety Show, Right?Last but not least, Emmy nominations have been out for awhile now, and the Screeners would be remiss if they didn’t offer the committee their own input on the matter. Even though they’d like to, they don’t have time to cover all the categories. Instead, they’ve chosen five of the most glamorous groups to pick apart like birds of prey—or, who knows; maybe they’ll approve of one or two of the nominees. Chris is a nice guy, right? We can count on him...Aaand we’re done. Join us over on Facebook to continue the conversation about the Emmys (and everything else), and keep the feedback and questions coming!

Comic book superhero summer blockbuster number two is upon us! Believe it or not, this excites some of the Screeners (read: Chad) more than others, but say what you will; Man of Steel is not light on discussion points. Before we get to them, though, there’s that little business of the lightning round.Microsoft Folds; Is Hollywood Next?First, injustice rears its ugly head as Josh is forced to respond to Chad and Chris’s 45-minute bonus episode within 60 seconds—which, as we all know, is hardly enough for him to pronounce two five-syllable words and include a dramatic pause to let a bad joke sink in. In fact, he only gets the chance to respond at all because after that episode was recorded, Microsoft caved to cries of foul play from (Luddite) console gamers. There’s more to say about this than will fit in to a normal Jump Cut, so...yeah; you can guess what happens here.It’s interrupted by some mention of Apple’s recent WWDC proceedings, where they unveiled the new iRecycle workstation and the iOS 7...let’s call it a “prototype”, but the real meat of this episode’s Jump Cuts is spread across the two remaining questions. First, there was the recent panel discussion at USC where Steven Spielberg predicted an implosion of the current theater business model in the not-so-distant future and speculated about what the future might look like after it happens. Will we see $50, $100 ticket prices and consider a trip to the theater the same kind of social affair as a sporting event or a night at the symphony?Then, as if in response, Paramount announced the “Mega Ticket”, a $50 chance to see World War Z early (because the lines will be sooo long on release day...) and go home with some movie-related swag. Are we witnessing the nascent future before our very eyes, or is this a terrible idea debuting with a worse movie, both of which are doomed to last all of two weeks in theaters? The British Invasion (of Krypton)Man of Steel they promised, and Man of Steel they will deliver. The Screeners have a lot to say about the latest installment in this beloved series, and they can’t help but start by comparing it to Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns from 2006 and their expectations for that movie.We’ve seen a few franchise reboots recently, but we’re willing to tolerate one more for a good cause. Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan (yes, there were other producers, but do they matter?) show us many of the same familiar set pieces, but from an angle only they can. Strap on a cape, or a suit of space armor, or at least draw an S (sorry, “hope symbol”) on your forehead while the Screeners talk everything from camera work to character development and throw in a bit of comic book geekery as icing on the cake.Oh, and Chad seems to have tired of editing out inside jokes, so if you weren’t at Chris’s bachelor party, um...sorry?Breaking Through the NoiseThis episode’s Cutting Room Floor is a bit of a departure from the norm. This time around, the Screeners watch between the lines of their favorite TV shows to take a look at the ads filling in the cracks between the plot twists.Since the birth of television broadcasting, commercials have been a necessary evil. Insipid, craven pablum, they lead us onward in an interminable hypnotic march toward a shining beacon of materialistic satiety we forever approach but will never, can never, reach. Other than that, they’re great.Every once in awhile, though, there’s an ad that stands out from the rest as especially funny, or impactful—touching, even. Often, these are the most insidious, as creating an emotional attachment to a product is the holy grail of the capitalist enterprise, but we’ve dealt with enough tough truths in this section already. On to the ads.To keep things brief here, we’re just going to list each host and some of the ads they mention, but when you’re done watching, head over to our Facebook page. We’ll have them linked there, and we want to hear from you—either vote for your favorite out of the ones the Screeners have picked, or remind them of a great ad they left out. Josh:Audi, “The Challenge”Old Spice, “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like”Chris:Lost, Hanso FoundationDisney, “I Am A Princess”Chad:Sussex Safer Roads, “Embrace Life”Procter & Gamble, “Best Job”Melody:Geico, “Happier Than a Body Builder Directing Traffic”Geico, “Happier Than Dikembe Mutombo Blocking a Shot” 

Activate your seat restraints, because tonight’s going to be a bumpy ride through space as the Screeners take a long, hard look at JJ Abrams’ newest addition to the Star Trek franchise. Before we jump to warp, though, let’s take a few minutes to acknowledge that a couple other things did actually happen during the last two weeks.Republicans and Books Relevant in the 21st Century? Who Knew?For starters, John McCain—someone who might not normally be associated with media innovation—introduced a bill to end the time-honored tradition of cable channel bundling. In case the jargon is new, “bundling” is that thing where you get a cable subscription because you want to watch Mad Men and Doctor Who, but you end up subsidizing UFC Fight Night and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo in the process (or, um, vice versa). Turns out McCain’s been working on this for awhile, with little success thus far. Does he have the Screeners’ support?They know they talk about trailers a lot, but Chad can’t resist a quick chat about two he saw during his recent trips to the theater:  Elysium and Gravity. The trailer for Gravity is really just a teaser, and maybe that’s what’s so appealing about it. The other one—well, the other one has Matt Damon. (If you haven’t seen Team America:  World Police, you’re welcome. And don’t worry; we actually do like Matt Damon.)Next, Josh holds true to his roots as a book snob and forces the group to discuss Baz Luhrmann’s vision of The Great Gatsby. In a mini-review of the adaptation, the Screeners touch on the merits of narration, Luhrmann’s tendency toward grandiosity, and Leonardo DiCaprio’s screen presence. Do they think the reboot is worth seeing?A Long, Long TrekUnable to hold back any longer, the Screeners kick off the main event by reciting their Star Trek nerd credentials—after all, you can’t just walk in off the street and review a Trek movie. Chris and Melody win the contest by a long shot. A LONG shot. Josh, knowing a Star Trek conversation can be a tough thing for non-fans, spends some of his introductory time recounting the story of a touching real-life romance stoked by the Federation in hopes of keeping some listeners around...for a little while, at least.Then the fun begins. Many have already weighed in on the movie (spoiler alert for the link), and hatahs gonna hate—as will a certain stripe of fan—but you’ll have to listen to see where the Screeners come down on the latest installment of the beloved franchise. There’s just too much to be said and too little that can be summarised without spoiling “surprises”. We will say this, though:  Josh seems to have some kind of sworn Klingon blood feud with JJ Abrams, and we’re not sure why.As If They Had Any Emotion Left...To cool off from the intensity of a Star Trek review, the four take some time in the Cutting Room Floor to discuss other movies that caused an emotional reaction, but which they wouldn’t want to watch again. United 93 is mentioned more than once, and some other popular and not-so-popular tearjerkers get praised and shunned in the same breath.After a few quick shout-outs to fans, the Screeners sign off. Want to have your voice heard on the show? Drop us a note here or on Facebook; we’ll be watching!

The Screeners host a double-feature this time, heading to the theater for both Oz: The Great and Powerful and The Incredible Burt Wonderstone. Before the conversation turns to wizards, monkeys, and the somewhat blurry line between them, though, they spend a little time outside Hollywood with a round of Jump Cuts.How to Raise Money, and Where Not to Spend it (01:23)The lightning round opens with a nerdfest about the increasing accessibility of cinema and video production. The Black Magic Cinema Camera gets a nod for its recent use in a feature-length movie, and the Screeners talk about their experience with it and other increasingly affordable theater-quality digital cameras.Next, the round gets charged, but maybe not so lightning-fast anymore, as the Screeners take on the recent Veronica Mars Kickstarter success, touching on everything from the revolutionary nature of crowdfunding a studio-backed movie to Joss Whedon’s reaction to the news.Having talked enough about worthy causes, the Screeners move on to one of the newest trends in the gaming market:  Microtransactions. CliffyB’s defense of the practice isn’t winning too many hearts over here, though Chad does note the extreme difficulty of building a successful virtual farm while juggling a career and family on the side. A magic grape every now and then might just be a good buy; you decide.Moving on to a less visually assaulting medium, the Screeners spend some time talking about what they’re currently reading or have just finished. Josh mentions a couple good books and totally shafts the authors by not giving their names (sorry about that), and mysterious forces try to prevent Chris from talking about his recommendation. Links are at the bottom of this post, but don’t look down there before you listen if you want to be surprised by the titles.Now, to Pull Back this Curtain... (Oz, 27:00; Burt Wonderstone, 42:00)So, does the modern-day prequel to the The Wizard of Oz make us all feel like kids again? What’s it like to see Jim Carrey be funny in a movie again? Or was he funny in Burt Wonderstone? The main event has the answers to those questions and many more (including the perennial favorite, “How annoyed does Josh have to be before he becomes completely incoherent?”). Oh, and a little pro-tip for producers:  Spend the extra coin on those opening credits; Melody’s watching closely. As with other Screeners reviews, there's a spoiler-free overview for each movie, but then thar' be spoilers, so head out when you hear Vader if you want the plots to be farmer's market fresh for you when you get to the theater.Nothing Beats Nostalgia (51:50)Longer reviews behind them, the Screeners offer an homage to a favorite from the Totally Rad Show: A Flickchart battle royale. In it, we learn that the 90’s was a golden age of cinema (who knew?), and that Chris and Melody can’t stand movies with more words than explosions (guess who doesn’t write the show notes...). Since the movies in this segment are the only ones on there so far, you, um, might not want to check out the Screeners’ Flickchart page, but hey; everyone could use a good laugh, right?Roll CreditsThat’s it for this time. We’ll be back with a new episode in a couple weeks; until then, stay occupied by leaving us some feedback or ideas in the comments here or over on Facebook (and go ahead and like us while you’re there; we like you too, we promise).Here are those links we promised earlier. Reading’s fundamental, folks (and yes, these are Amazon affiliate links, because you can’t spell “fundamental” without “fund me”):John Carter and the Gods of HollywoodPlatformTrue Enough: Learning to Live in a Post-Fact SocietyPhantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human MindBeyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape 14

Good news! The Screeners Podcast pilot passed the test, and they’ve been picked up for a full run by...the network that they run. Hey; it’s still an accomplishment—and they’re on iTunes now, so once you’re done previewing the episode here, head over there to subscribe.This time, with the Oscars behind them, the Screeners are ready to move on to the year ahead and discuss a variety of non-film media.Jump Cuts (1:15)OK, so we can’t resist one movie question...The recent trend of recasting fairy tales into darker, more adult stories has hit theaters and network TV in force, but who’s watching these things anyway? Somewhere along the way, we find out that the Screeners have some strong opinions on what actually constitutes a fairy tale. Who knew?Audio ”books” and the geeks who love themHey, they said no “media” is safe—and for now, books are still considered media. Does listening to an audio book count as “reading”, though? Chad and Josh try to drop some science on the topic, but Chris is having none of it.Tiny screens, lots of funFrom “reading” on the go to bite-sized gaming sessions—the Screeners dedicate some time praising their favorite mobile games. It turns out to be a revealing discussion: We learn that Melody loves to micromanage, and we discover the identities of both the only non-Pixar employee to buy a video game based on a cartoon movie and the only non-Sony employee to buy a PS Vita.The ups and downs of Netflix originalsIs releasing a whole season at a time a good thing? Netflix is betting “yes” with shows like House of Cards and Lilyhammer, but we’ll see whether their reported $4 million/episode gamble pays off with the Screeners. Extra credit:  Listen for Chad and Chris’s homage to Monty Python’s argument clinictoward the end of the discussion.The Main Event (24:25)The expositionThis episode, the Screeners take an in-depth look at The Americans, FX’s new period drama focused on the marriage of two KGB sleeper agents living in DC in the early 1980’s. To start out, they take a bird's-eye view of the series, devoid of any spoilers.Let the real action begin (33:21)If you haven’t seen the show yet, but the Screeners just convinced you to, you won’t want to listen for the next 13 minutes or so. The conversation moves into spoiler-filled impressions of the first three episodes, where the Screeners thought that the redacted was redacted, and though the main characters are redacted, their redacted leaves us asking redacted. Also, the conflict between redacted and redacted is a real redacted to the show.The Cutting Room Floor (46:10)The Screeners move back to the movie theater to talk about the all-important first impressions of the cinematic world—trailers. Rather than give away the discussion, here are the topics, followed by links to each of the trailers mentioned (Googlified to prevent spoiling the fun).Favorite current trailershttp://goo.gl/u5h7Nhttp://goo.gl/LPZv9http://goo.gl/AcBeWhttp://goo.gl/hJj38http://goo.gl/FwovJhttp://goo.gl/SLChYhttp://goo.gl/0NzTlGood trailer, not-so-good moviehttp://goo.gl/BkyvIhttp://goo.gl/56qayhttp://goo.gl/Kp49ohttp://goo.gl/9qvf2Not-so-good trailer, much better moviehttp://goo.gl/kUIeahttp://goo.gl/sGi4nhttp://goo.gl/JTauhhttp://goo.gl/lFEODAnd that’s a wrap!That about does it for this week on the Screeners. Thanks for listening; see you next time! And don't forget to subscribe on iTunes!